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The comments were made on Sunrise, Sky's new breakfast show, in a debate about a study which found that two in five men believe a drunk woman wearing a short skirt is to blame if they are sexually assaulted.

Twitter users quickly slammed Mr Dixon for his comments, describing them as 'appalling'.

But Mr Dixon followed up his comments with a tweet - which has now been deleted - which said: 'What's wrong with taking some personal responsibility?'.

The comments were made on Sunrise, Sky's new breakfast show, in a debate about a study which found that two in five men believe a drunk woman wearing a short skirt is to blame if they are sexually assaulted

He then added: 'What is terrible for everyone is when an issue can't be discussed without accusations flying.'

Among those who criticised Mr Dixon was Fraser Stewart said: 'How a woman chooses to dress or behave is her business. Rape is not.'

While Rozi Jones wrote: 'So @SkyStephen thinks women are to blame if they are sexually assaulted whilst drinking or wearing a specific type of outfit. In 2017.'

Charles Clark added: 'A rapist rapes a woman because he's a rapist. To even imply she's to blame is shocking.'

Twitter users quickly slammed Mr Dixon for his comments, describing them as 'appalling'

And Nerina Onion said: 'The only person responsible for rape is the rapist.... outdated, frightening, misogyny from @skystephen @SkyNews @EverydaySexism'.

Another Twitter user Emma wrote: 'You are appalling. The rapist is responsible for rape. No one else. Not anything else. We are all in charge of ourselves.'

And Amanda Craig wrote: 'Wearing a short skirt is NOT asking someone to rape you. When a man wears shorts, is he asking to be raped? Stop this sexism. @skystephen'

Sam Smethers, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, which published the sexism report, told the Evening Standard: 'It seems that Stephen Dixon has a lot to learn about personal responsibility.

'The only person responsible if a woman is attacked is her attacker.

'It is this kind of thing that can deter women from reporting attacks and can let men feel they can act with impunity.'

A spokesperson for Sky News said: 'In his capacity as presenter, Stephen was playing devil's advocate during a discussion of the controversial findings of the Fawcett report. He was not reflecting a personal view.'